The Gift of a Friend
by AnHeiressofaSOLDIER
Summary: Most likely discontinued, but I'll put this up for anyone who still might want to see the first chapter of: A massive, complex and convoluted Magic Knight Rayearth AU, in which Umi is being trained by Ceara, Hikaru is dating Lantis-someone who may or may not be a killer, and Alcyone's planet might just be the ones who have been pulling everyone's strings all along.


Umi watched as Hikaru came spilling through the nearby stretch of shops, with Lantis in tow. As the bluenette whipped her recently cut hair behind her, and turned to face the couple, she tried to understand just what Hikaru saw in the brother of the boy Umi herself had once dated.

In her mind, though Zagoto had certainly gotten a little... eccentric, after his time spent in prison in Lantis' stead, there was no denying that he had been fun-loving and generally cared about Umi and then Emeraude.

Lantis, though... Umi could never get any positive vibes from him at all. Like right now, he and Hikaru had just gotten done Christmas shopping and the redhead was pulling popcorn off of a string, and popping some into her mouth. All the while, Hikaru laughed at it all, but Lantis... even as Hikaru hung on his arm, he didn't seem to feel anything at all.

Clenching her fist in the way that she might have carried her fencing sword, Umi fought against every impulse in her body that told her to defend the only sister she had left, and instead met Hikaru and Lantis pleasantly. "Lantis, Hikaru, you both seem well-" Umi spluttered awkwardly, despite herself.

Of course, she probably should have expected that she'd never get a word out before Hikaru was tackling her to the ground...

"Umi! Hikaru cheered excitedly, as she jumped into the other girl's arms, and started saying some little nothings in a sing-song way.

Idly, Umi noted that some cars passing on their right side had paused to eye the spectacle before them. That was actually one good thing about their city, Umi mused: they didn't stand for any sort of violence or felony, even if... even if there was a chance that a future felon was in front of them, Umi thought as she once again looked warily at Lantis, who didn't even seem to note that his "girlfriend" had fallen.

"Oh, Umi!" Hikaru continued on, oblivious to the awkward position that she and the other girl were in, or just how uncomfortable her elbows were digging into the blunette's neck. "I was at the pet store with Lantis, and I found some great fiery dog treats for Hikari, but I also got you some treats for your birds, if you want."

By saying "treats" Umi was aware that Hikaru had just done her a favor, by buying her imitation birds that Umi could keep at their house when her relatives were there, and then she could just sell the real avians later on.

Though it was certainly a nice gesture that her extended family had bought her pets… after the death of her friend Presea, Umi found that the creatures somehow reminded her too much of her soul sister's former wardrobe, and thus Umi could barely bare to be around real birds anymore than she had to. Even if... even if she'd always liked birds well enough before.

So smiling at Hikaru for her thoughtfulness, the blue-haired-girl pushed the redhead away from her gently and offered her a small smile, before she returned her attention to Lantis. There was- there was something about his eyes that Umi just didn't like... "Thank you, Hikaru," Umi deadpanned, as she stood up and dusted herself off.

Hikaru, however, didn't seem to care about her appearance in the slightest, and instead nestled herself into Lantis' arms, as if she were his besotted lover and just being with him made everything-even her rugged appearance-seem somehow better. Umi narrowed her eyes at the thought.

"Thank you, Hikaru. Though you really shouldn't have pushed me down like that; I hate for my skirt to rise up, after- Well, just after."

"Oh, I know!" Hikaru continued on, as she looked back to Lantis for some sort of approval that she of course didn't get, and which instantly set Umi's teeth on edge. "You hate people seeing your undergarments after you were a cheerleader, and put your bloomers under your leotard, instead of the other way around. It reminds me of when we had to put a cone over Hikari's head, to keep him from licking his medicine off, but we put it on wro-"

"Come on, Hikaru. I think Hikari's story is a beautiful one to tell people, just like how flowers are a beautiful and kind thing to give to anyone, but... I doubt Umi wants to hear about it right now. She seems a bit preoccupied."

Stepping back in shock, and nearly crashing into the Red-Cross advocator behind her, Umi became aware of many things at once: For one thing, that had certainly been the first time she'd ever heard Lantis speak. She was sure of it. And secondly, Lantis seemed to be defending her and accusing her at the same time.

But most of all... Umi realized that there was much off with his wording as he escorted himself and a confused looking Hikaru into another department store, just as a brunette turned to look at them like Umi herself had.

But when Lantis put his jacket around Hikaru to keep her warm-and the girl with big, red eyes smiled more than Umi had seen her do so in a while-she couldn't help thinking that the two of them looked cute. And that was so odd for her, that Umi didn't even know where to begin describing its oddness.

As it was, Umi was almost certain that Lantis had been described how Presea's murderer was. So was there a chance that Lantis was controlling Hikaru somehow to get her to go along with him?

…

Looking up at where Ceara had pulled them both out of the water (not even noting all the birds about her), Umi found that she was back on the dock, looking up listlessly to the scorching hot and white sky above her.

Blinking confusedly, as the excess water began falling out of her hair and ears, Umi almost found it strange that a moment ago Ceara had been asking her if she had any power over water, when now... Now Umi felt as though she couldn't survive in it at all. She just felt so tired and confused from her swim...

"Umi, what's wrong? Are you-"

"Umi. Oh my gosh, Umi!"

Whatever Ceara had been about to say to Umi was instantly cut off, as Hikaru came hurtling down the path Umi herself had earlier been on.

In the back of her mind, the bluenette wondered if the redhead might twist her ankle, seeing as how she was walking on such wobbly terrain-and surely the way that Hikaru had just walked on a few black walnuts wouldn't help her balance.

Just then, as she suddenly found herself feeling alert again, Umi was instantly indignant that the strange girl that Hikaru seemed to be with didn't even know enough about her to help her stand up on her two feet.

"Umi!" Hikaru exclaimed again, as she thankfully missed the look of anger that flashed in Umi's eyes, as she looked over at the brunette girl beside her, before hurrying to Umi's side to help the half-unconscious girl up. "What happened? You feel so light in my arms. Please don't tell me that that means that you're hurt! Umm… just what is it that they say about people in water again?"

"I think you'll find, Hikaru, that they say that dead bodies float. And since Umi here is just fine, you won't have to worry about that, thankfully."

"Oh, Ceara! It's you! I'm so glad you were here to help Umi, when she- Well, what did happen, exactly?"

Rolling her eyes at Hikaru's out of place concern, but being touched all the while that Hikaru was worried enough to be fretting over her how she was, Umi was about to explain to Hikaru, Ceara-and the new girl, she supposed-that she was just fine. She wasn't going to pull an Aerith from Hikaru's cherished Final Fantasy VII game on them anytime soon.

But the moment the words began to leave her lips, Umi had the strangest inkling that she _should_ have gone underwater, like how the Cetra from that game had. There was... something there that seemed to be calling out to her...

"Umm... Miss 'Umi'?" asked the brunette girl that had accompanied Hikaru to their current location, and who was still looking at Umi with a certain look in her green eyes that Umi didn't at all like.

"Excuse me for saying this, but I was talking to Miss Hikaru before we happened upon you, and we ended up speaking of careers, and well... it was brought to my attention that you don't know what you'd like to use with your skill set. Might I suggest rhythmic gymnastics? I think you have the build and grace for that. But moreover, if you'd brought ribbons with you, it might have been easier for Miss Ceara to help you."

How... odd it was, Umi thought to herself-as Hikaru stared at her worriedly, and Ceara went over to where they'd both earlier fallen into the water to retrieve Umi's fallen headband-that this girl that Umi was only just meeting (someone she didn't trust at all) was trying to make light of her having fallen into the water.

In the back of her mind, Umi wondered if the other girl would dare say such a thing, if she knew the people that people had died in this place. But also... Umi somehow felt relieved and embolden by the other girl's words.

Rhythmic gymnastics... Umi had never thought about that before, but she supposed it made sense. And yet...why did it feel as though the other girl had meant something entirely different from rhythmic gymnastics in the end?

As Umi looked up into the shy, green eyes of the girl before her, Umi almost felt herself floating up on a cloud, and she knew-without a doubt-that she would do whatever this girl told her to for whatever reason.

But moreover... she would do whatever it took to make sure nothing like what had happened to Presea would ever happen again.

As she looked at Hikaru regretfully, for the foreboding feeling she was having back in her mind, Umi simultaneously told the other girl, "It's so nice to see you again, Fuu. I just realized, we met and talked after Lantis and Hikaru went into that store the other day, didn't we?"

...

Hikaru sighed, as she stood in front of her mirror and braided her hair, whilst trying to decide whether or not to wear her cat ears to the party or not. On one hand, Hikaru knew that it wasn't a costume party, and that she could very well look even younger than she usually did if she went through with the idea, but...

As her friends often joked that Hikaru was catlike, anyway (and even went as far as to putting "bunny ears" behind her head, and to pat her on her crown a lot), she thought she might could save them the act of imagining it, and just actually do it all herself. How… aggravating it all could be sometimes.

Really... Hikaru knew that she probably should have been being a lot happier than she was at the moment. Going to a fun, cute party with her friends-and being able to dress like her silly self, even-was what Hikaru had always wished to happen. Too often did she feel like people didn't really give her a chance, or value who she really was, after all.

Speaking of which... now that Hikaru thought about it, her and Umi's encounters with Fuu had been very unorthodox, and it had almost seemed like... like both her and Umi's identities and current beliefs had both disappeared momentarily, so as to make Fujin happy.

Of course, Hikaru knew that she was probably being more than a little ridiculous, and just latching onto her own fantasy ideas more than ever after Presea's death, but...

Even though Hikaru had definitely come to like Fuu well enough, she promised herself that if Umi felt the slightest bit uncomfortable or weird around her, she'd end that new friendship forthwith;

Umi... she deserved so much more than she got, after what had happened to Presea, Hikaru knew. And as such, the redhead promised herself as she looked into the mirror-and threw her cat ears on the floor-that she'd do anything to make the bluenette feel comfortable and okay again. She owed that, and so much more, to her dear friend and soul sister, after all.

"Hikaru, I see you look as lovely as ever." Not even surprised when she noticed someone with white hair and a strange headband placed on his head looking at her through the mirror, Hikaru feigned shock anyway, as she placed a hand over her heart, and then turned to face her brother.

She and Eagle… had always had a unique relationship, and it seemed only right that this brother of hers be around to usher her on on this big night of hers. However, if the expression Hikaru saw on him in the mirror was right, it didn't seem like Eagle was nearly as ready to let her go as she might have hoped.

Jumping into Eagle's arms before she could think any better of it, Hikaru smiled as she felt her twin's arms snake around her waist, so that he might hold her in a way that Hikaru had never allowed him to before.

See? Though Hikaru was loath to admit it, she hated to make a fool of herself in front of people, and it seemed to her that she was always doing just that. Her twin brother Eagle-for better or for worse-had sensed this early on, and therefore had opted to stay away from Hikaru on certain occasions, so that she wouldn't become even more uncomfortable.

But even with that, they'd been closer to each other than they had been with anyone else-as they'd fortunately been able to keep up their twin telepathy-and it was only now, after Presea's death, that Hikaru somehow saw what a fool she'd been for so many years.

She could- she could realistically die any moment, couldn't she? So why she'd wasted so many things that she could have been sharing with her fraternal twin, Hikaru couldn't even begin to guess.

Pulling away from Eagle more quickly than she would have liked to, as she sensed Lantis would be there to pick her up very soon, Hikaru leaned her head against her twin's forehead for just one moment, and even reveled in it for that time, before saying, "I don't have much time right now, unfortunately. Not even for your always too kind and far too perceptive compliments, dear Eagle. But if you want, we might could drink some tea before I have to go?"

As it happened, Hikaru was just about to exit her small, ocean inspired room to get the said tea for that ideas (as some of her best memories with Eagle were when the two of them played MMOs together in comfortable silence, whilst drinking tea), but before she got too far, Hikaru found that Eagle was latching onto her arm and holding her back for a second. She was just about to ask him why, when suddenly:

"Hikaru, have you ever wondered how dad has the power to see the future at all?"

Ironically crashing into the gaming system that she'd just sentimentally thought of-as her foot got caught on an upturned rug and about threw her down-Hikaru accepted Eagle's hand before she really even got a chance to think about his question.

The twins had always assumed that their father, Ferrio, just had really good intuition or guessing skills. And there were certainly times that Hikaru had thought that she and Eagle must have gotten their "mind reading" abilities from somewhere, but...

"Jeez, I don't know, Eagle," Hikaru said with a laugh, as she playfully pushed his arm away from where he'd helped her up, and once again headed towards the exit to her room. "But didn't we used to joke that dad's powers come from his favorite earring? Ooh! I know what this about! We're going to have a treasure hunt with little kids, right? But first we need to come up with something good for them to want to look for, huh? Let me help! Let me help! Let me help! Please, Eagle"

If Hikaru had hoped for Eagle to emote even the slightest bit at that, like he often did when they were together, she would have been sourly disappointed when all he did was put his headband with the fur ball atop her head, and flicked it before walking off.

As he looked at her one last time over his shoulder, though, and with a slight smile on his face, Hikaru thought she might have just heard Eagle tell her to always be as fiery.

And it was only when Hikaru remembered that the theme for the dance she was going to was about fire, that she smiled, too.

...

In the end, Lantis' car seemed to have broken down, so that he and Hikaru had to walk to the school dance hand-in-hand. And though Hikaru often didn't think herself as a touchy-feely type of girl, after having grown up with so many brothers, she found she actually preferred that to what could have been. After all, if Lantis had been driving, he wouldn't have been able to keep a hold of her like he was at the moment.

Though Hikaru supposed that a lot of other couples held hands over the armrest as one of them drove somewhere, Hikaru knew that Lantis would never do that with her. She thought it probably had to do with Zagoto's death, and Lantis' own desire to be cautious-with both hands on the steering wheel at all times-but Hikaru somehow got the sense that it was a lot more to it than that, as well.

And though Hikaru knew there were things at play she probably ought to have been thinking about, it was hard to focus on those things when she and Lantis were keeping up such a fun conversation. It had all started when the two of them had happened upon a thing of hop-scotch at the end of the hill they'd just traversed.

Deciding that the dance could always wait in the wake of new discovery, the couple had then decided to have a few rounds of competition. However, it had been when they'd found a pinecone, so as to play the game correctly, that things had gotten interesting.

And apparently realizing that since he could throw the pinecone down so thoroughly, that he could easily do the same with his overly stuffy jacket, Lantis had discarded his vest with such gusto, that Hikaru had momentarily thought that that was what Eagle had meant about fire…

And then, of course, Hikaru had had to think about why normal people would feel on fire, in seeing their boyfriends strip. And thinking about Eagle's words, and then Lantis in such a way, was such a ridiculous notion that Hikaru had had no choice but to burst out laughing about it all: something Lantis had been quick to pester her about, until he finally gave into Hikaru's desire for him not to tease her, but even that...

The way he's given in for her ended up becoming one of the sincerest and beautiful things that Hikaru had ever witnessed in her life. Even moreso when he'd opted to rip part of their pinecone off, and dip it into some of the freshly fallen snow, so that it glistened beautifully.

And only when the pinecone was so saturated with the snow that Hikaru thought it might always sparkle that white, did Lantis give it to his girlfriend-brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, all the while.

"Y'know…You're right, Hikaru. It's not right for you to tell me your secrets when I have so many of my own that I haven't told you. So I'll tell you one of mine now-and give you this from my home country, to capture the moment-and I'll hope you'll tell me one of yours someday, and that that cycle of telling will continue."

That had to have been the most Hikaru had ever heard Lantis say, she would reflect on later. And even more interesting than that, almost, was how he was able to tell her about why he kept bangs, to spite Zagoto, without having an accent in doing so.

How could that- how could that even be possible? Hikaru wondered. Though she knew without a doubt that she loved Lantis greatly and always would, she still couldn't help but think there was so much he still wasn't telling her. Big things, too, if Hikaru were to guess.

How she could barely understand his words in some moments, but then get his intent perfectly in others, she wasn't sure. And she almost felt as though Lantis were somehow far removed from her, like... Like he was a prince in secret, or something, and sometimes his cover and accent would slip, so did that… did that mean that some of Umi's theories were correct?

And... it was only then, when Hikaru was trying to make perfect sense of Lantis-when she should have been feeling more grateful for him than ever-that the girl realized that maybe she'd believed in Umi's theory some all along.

And furthermore... she had- she'd been subconsciously paying more attention to Umi than she'd thought she'd been, hadn't she? Just what… just what did it all mean, exactly?

In the end, Hikaru would end up getting her answer, but she wouldn't get to go to the dance as a consequence. Only after she'd eventually tell Lantis that she feared her love for red would lead to bloodshed-and she brushed the snowy pinecone against her eyelashes, so that she could always savor the moment and the sparkles her action had secreted- would a helicopter appear overhead, and shine a spotlight on Lantis and Hikaru both: effectively ending everything.

Now, though, it looked as though another plane was resting over them, and shining a light down on them. Laughing slightly at that, as she took Lantis' hands in her own and began spinning around with him, Hikaru found herself wondering what the chances were that the helicopter looking for their football field would get confused and somehow, and succeed in making their moment together all the more romantic.

And though Hikaru did feel bad for them missing their intended destination, and no doubt probably having to hear the music for it later, she did have to admit that it was all kind of romantic... and completely cheesy, like in that Hercules movie with Herc and Meg.

Crossing her arms over her chest nervously, as Hikaru found she wasn't ready to be too deeply in love, any more than Megara had been then, she meant to push Lantis away from her the slightest bit. But she'd never realize just what a mistake that idea was-and how much she'd come to regret it-until many years later.

...

Alcyone laughed aloud, as she leafed through a book that detailed what to do if the one you loved was in love with someone else.

Honestly... the stupidity of certain people amused her to no end. Didn't the people writing into the magazine know that others existed so they could be your wing man, and could never screw you over like that?

Seriously. How could people be so ignorant? She almost had to wonder if she herself would have been so stupid in her younger days, and when the answer was nothing more than a resounding "no", Alcyone took the moment to ponder whether or not anyone else could be that foolish.

Maybe everyone was secretly brilliant, and this part of the magazine was some big joke? As Alcyone walked over to Ascot, preparing to ask her mentor just that, the young girl ended up finding out that for the first time since she could remember, that someone new had come to the planet of Jziten.

The girl had long, green hair and a certain grace to her that Alcyone knew that she'd never be able to grow to emulate. And she supposed she was also a bit jealous of the other woman's' smaller physique and curly hair. The only way Alcyone was ever able to get that kind of body to her own hair, was to put it up in pigtails, and-

"Excuse me," said the girl to Alcyone's intended target, Ascot, as she effectively interrupted whatever had been going on before her utterance. "I don't- I don't know how I got here exactly. I'm Fuu's elder sister, you see, and I was looking for her, but somehow... I seem to have ended up in another world entirely! What a strange dream this is that I'm having! And here I just told Fuu to have faith in her imagination more, when perhaps I should have been saying and doing the opposite myself. Now, though... now I wish I'd never believed her once about Jziten! Please take me home, sir. Please take me home."

As it happened, Alcyone blew the hair out of her face, just at the same moment that Ascot did as well. As the young magician girl watched the emotions shift in her Master's eyes, she knew that any moment now he'd be calling for Caldina, to see whether or not she was playing another trick on them.

What neither of them planned for, though, was for the legendary blond and scarred knight- whose name and affiliation were unknown-to appear with escudo in his hand, and to look over at the new girl with far more sympathy than even Umi's former lover, Ascot, could have handled.

"I think this girl needs and deserves more respect than you lot are giving her. Give her to me. I'll see to her and keep her in good hands, I promise you that. But.. this girl's memory about things is indeed worrisome. Hmm…

"_Yes, her memory is indeed worrisome_, the twelve-year-old-Alcyone thought regretfully. _For she... she is_ only _a memory. And given by the way she looks so ghostly, I'll bet that she's haunted by some sort of tragic love.. I was stupid to think things like that didn't exist a moment ago, huh? So very stupid..._

_**Author's Note: This is a story that I wrote a couple of years back, for a friend's birthday, before my lack of confidence in writing made me shelve the thing completely.**_

_**However… I'm trying to get over some of my aversion to showing people my work now, so I thought maybe I'd go ahead and post this anyway? Who knows, maybe someone might enjoy it (even if this **__**is**__** confusing and convoluted as heck, and I'll probably never finish it, which I'm sorry for).**_

_**Also, it's been so long that I looked at this, that I don't remember how well I edited this, or how much it even makes sense. (In fact, I TRULY hope this IS the edited version, and that I'm not uploading the original draft by accident; I'm pretty sure this is the right one, but there is a slim chance that it isn't.) Like, I don't even know if I ever ended up looking up Fuu's sister's name here (which I meant to), or if I just put what I remembered it to be…**_

_**So, yeah. If there are mistakes, I apologize PROFUSELY. I really do. But I just have to post this story now (even with the mistakes), because I know if I don't I never will…**_

_**Welp, thanks for reading, MKR fans. And sorry if this story is terrible, full of mistakes, and just too weird. (I kinda don't remember this story for the life of me, and I just don't have the time to reread it right now, with my dad, unfortunately, dying and stuff). And hopefully I can see you guys on the other side with a better/more coherent Magic Knight Rayearth story in the future…**_

_**But, seriously… it's probably best for everyone involved that they just ignore this awful AU story…**_


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